When this song first came out in 1972, it spawned a few intriguing questions. Chief of these is who Aubrey is or was.
The song was written by David Gates and recorded by his group Bread. David explained that actress Audrey Hepburn was the inspiration behind “Aubrey” after the singer-songwriter saw her in the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.
How Audrey became Aubrey was never clarified though. Nevertheless, the song eventually gave birth to Aubrey being tagged as a girl’s name when previously it was used mostly by boys.
“And Aubrey was her name
A not so very ordinary girl or name
But who’s to blame”
There were a few other versions as to who “Aubrey” was but these have not been confirmed. One story said that sometime before he wrote the song, David lived next door to an old woman named Aubrey. He never really knew her but when she died, the relatives came and decided to put up a yard sale to get rid of some of her belongings.
David came up and took a look at some of Aubrey’s stuff. He found a photo of the old woman when she was still young. This inspired him to write the song, regretting that he didn’t spend time to get to know the old woman a little better.
Another story said there was a young girl who lived upstairs where David once stayed. It was said that when she committed suicide, David sat down and wrote the song for her.
“And Aubrey was her name
I never knew her but I love her just the same
I loved her name
Wish that I had found a way
And the reasons that would make her stay”
Still another story was that Aubrey was an infant girl who died soon after her birth. This became the basis for David to come up with the following lines of the song:
“But oh I miss the girl,
And I’d go a million times around the world just to say
She had been mine for a day.
Whatever the reason was, there’s no denying that “Aubrey” is one of the most beautiful songs ever written for and about a woman.
Want to listen to “Aubrey” and the mystery that shrouds the song? Here
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